Trader Joe’s Bavarian Hefeweizen

Time to review some of the infamous Trader Joe’s beer: their Bavarian style Hefeweizen. This isn’t an American-style wheat beer, but most definitely in the traditional German style—sour, fruity, estery, acidic. It’s actually a pretty decent beer, and you almost can’t beat the price for craft beer ($4.99 for a sixpack, I believe).

Appearance: Hazy and orange-ish in color. Thin head, white.

Smell: Yeasty, musty, a little Belgian-like. Tangy fruit and sour.

Taste: Sour (citrus) and slightly wheaty. Has that traditional lactic wheat tang that typifies the style. Refreshing. Little to no hops.

Mouthfeel: Thinnish, and puckery, a bit acidic.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores 83 out of 100, with 94% approval; that’s pretty good. On RateBeer, it ranks 3.32 out of 5, in the 70th percentile.

This is beer that is good for a hot summer day. If you have a local Trader Joe’s, it’s not a bad bet.